a French soldier and politician. By religion, he practised Catholicism, at a time when France was being polarized between the Catholics and Huguenots. In 1545, he was seriously wounded at the Second Siege of Boulogne, but recovered. He was struck with a lance through the bars of his helmet. The steel head pierced both cheeks, and 15 cm (6 in) of the shaft were snapped off by the violence of the blow. He sat firm in his saddle, and rode back unassisted to his tent.
As Francis de Lorraine passes through Wassy-sur-Blaise on his way to Paris, a massacre of 1200 Huguenots takes place. It is not known to what extent he was responsible for this.
